American drones were scouring a region the size of West Virginia in northern Nigeria for nearly 300 Christian schoolgirls kidnapped a month ago by a maniacal Islamic warlord, but the effort faced a potential roadblock in a rarely-invoked U.S. law that bars the military from helping certain governments. [Finish Article ]... Read More

The United States should send in special forces to rescue the hundreds of girls kidnapped by Boko Haram—whether the Nigerian government gives permission or not, according to Sen. John McCain. “If they knew where they were, I certainly would send in U.S. troops to rescue them, in a New York minute I would, without permission of the host country,” McCain told The Daily Beast on Tuesday. “I wouldn’t be waiting for some kind of permission from some guy named Goodluck Jonathan,” he added, referring t... Read More

A spokesman for the Borno governor said parents, students and teachers have now identified 77 of the girls shown in the video, released Monday by Agence France-Presse, a French news agency. "Remember, I also said that on face value, all the girls in the video are believed to part of the abducted girls, but Governor (Kashim) Shettima has insisted that the names of all the girls in the video be established and compared with school and security records," spokesman Isa Gusau said Tuesday.[Finish Art... Read More

Prime Minister Stephen Harper emphasized Tuesday that Canadian soldiers are not engaged in combat and will not accompany Nigerian forces in battle.“They are there to provide liaison and to assist Nigerian authorities in their search,” Mr. Harper told the Commons Tuesday. “The kidnapping of these schoolgirls by Boko Haram is obviously repugnant to everything that we believe in as Canadians, and most people in the world believe in. Our hearts are with these girls and their families.”[Finish Articl... Read More

Meanwhile, a senior U.S. official told Fox News the Pentagon has deployed military aircraft over Nigeria for manned intelligence and surveillance missions. The U.S. has sent some 30 people drawn from the State and Defense departments. Among them are five State Department officials, two strategic communications experts, a civil security expert and a regional medical support officer. Four FBI officials with expertise in safe recovery, negotiations and preventing future kidnappings are also... Read More